Free 4-Week Beginner Plyometric Program for Baseball Pitchers

Who this template is for

Adults only for this unsupervised-download audience; initial instruction still requires a qualified coach. Prerequisites: a pain-free bodyweight squat, a single-leg stand held 30 seconds, and a quiet two-foot landing. Do not use during an injury, following surgery, during a growth spurt, or as a test of return-to-sport readiness.

Landing quality and repetition quality determine whether to continue. Flexing the hips, knees, and ankles on landing lengthens the time over which force is absorbed and lowers peak force; a rigid landing does the opposite. Higher boxes and added weight are not the progression here. The athlete first learns to stop, reset, and produce another controlled effort.

Your weekly framework

The days below are movable placeholders. A qualified coach should fit them around current throwing, other teams, and recovery. Throwing volume comes from the throwing program below; it prescribes no maximum-intent throwing and does not stack on top of team practice or games.

Session details

Before each session, 8–12 minutes: easy walking or jogging, leg swings, hip and upper-back rotations, then a light band arm-care series (external and internal rotation, a row, and a scapular raise; one set of 10–15 each), then an unloaded rehearsal of the first exercise. Use a clear surface, a secure band anchor, and equipment sized to the athlete.

Order each session so the work that depends on freshness comes first: jumps or sprints, then the main strength exercise, then accessory and trunk work, with any conditioning last. Main strength sets stop with 2–3 clean repetitions still possible; accessory, youth, and beginner sets keep 3 or more in reserve. Rest 2–3 minutes after jumps, sprints, and main strength sets and 60–90 seconds after accessory sets. Progress by the two-for-two rule: when the final set reaches two repetitions above target in two consecutive sessions, add the smallest available load (about 2.5–5 lb for upper-body and 5–10 lb for lower-body exercises, or 5–10% for youth). End a set when speed, balance, or technique changes. No lifting to failure or maximum-effort testing is required.

A · Vertical control

B · Directional control

Practice focus

Rest 15–30 seconds between individual jumps and 2–3 minutes between sets (about a 1:5–1:10 work-to-rest ratio). Keep 48–72 hours between sessions. These rest times and doses are deliberately modest coaching choices. Stop the session if you cannot hold a landing, pain appears, or technique deteriorates. Depth jumps, weighted jumps, and fatigue circuits are excluded.

Throwing program

Ages 19 and up (college and adult) · Offseason build · 4 throwing days per week. Build throwing volume and long toss distance first. Intent rises late in the block, after the base is there.

Place the throwing days on your week so the longest or hardest day is not the day before a game, and throw before lifting when they share a day. If a team already runs throwing practice, that practice is the session: use the numbers below as a ceiling and log what was actually done. Games replace a throwing day; they never stack on top. Repeat a week instead of moving on if the arm feels heavy or soreness lasts into the next morning.

Week 1 · about 260 planned throws

Week 2 · about 280 planned throws

Week 3 · about 290 planned throws

Week 4 (lighter week) · about 210 planned throws

Throw counts include warm-up throws. Distances are ceilings, never targets. Pitch Smart for this age group: Ages 19 to 22: daily max of 120 pitches and at least 3 months off from competitive pitching each year, including at least 4 continuous weeks off from all overhead throwing. Need a different phase or number of days? Use the free throwing program generator.

Week-by-week progression

The weeks are decision points, not deadlines. Repeat or reduce a week when recovery is poor. Exact doses here are original coaching examples, not a research-proven route to a certain velocity.

When to move on

Ready for coach-introduced low box jumps or hurdle hops when eight sessions are complete, every landing is quiet and balanced, single-leg balance holds 30 seconds, and there is no knee, heel, or shin pain. Depth jumps still require a strength base, closed growth plates, and direct coaching.

Common questions

Will jumping alone make me throw harder?

A jump is not a pitch. The plan practices a physical quality; transfer to throwing is not guaranteed.

Why not use a higher box?

Box height can reward tucking the legs rather than better jumping. This introduction does not need a box.

Textbooks list 80–100 contacts for beginners. Why so few here?

Those volumes assume plyometrics are the main power stimulus. A pitcher already sprints and throws; a coaching text for beginner athletes suggests about 15–24 jumps per session, one or two times per week, and this template stays near that.

Evidence & source notes

These sources inform the principles, not a guarantee that this exact template produces an outcome. Coaching manuals are labeled separately from research. No proprietary program tables or illustrations have been reproduced.

1. Haff & Triplett, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed. (2016)

   Chapters 7, 17, 18, 20, 21 and 22: youth guidelines (1–3 sets of 6–15 repetitions, 2–3 nonconsecutive days per week, load increases of about 5–10%), exercise order and rest intervals, the two-for-two progression rule, plyometric prerequisites and 48–72 hour recovery with depth jumps contraindicated while growth plates are open, aerobic progression of no more than 10% per week, in-season maintenance with unloading weeks, and criterion-based return to play. Consulted from the supplied book; no program tables reproduced.

2. Christian Thibaudeau, Theory and Application of Modern Strength and Power Methods (2007)

   Beginner plyometric guidance of one or two sessions per week and about 15–24 jumps per session, roughly half an advanced athlete’s volume; three loading weeks followed by an easier week (pp. 23, 32).

3. Susan Hall, Basic Biomechanics (2023)

   Growth plates stay open until about age 18 and can be injured by repetitive loading; elbow valgus torque rises with ball speed; flexing the hips, knees and ankles on landing lengthens the absorption time and lowers peak force (pp. 86–96, 189–192, 369).